Tragedy In Knockturn Alley
by pleiades007
Summary: Albus has always been normal. Everyone except Harry was shocked when the scandal with Scorpius Malfoy appeared. Albus P/Scorpius M JKR has all the rights. Rated for language, sex, and drugs


Albus was perfectly average in most areas of life. He wasn't as smart as his cousin, Rose. Nor was he as athletic as his brother, James. But Rose was a little bit of a snob, if he was quite honest with himself. And James was a little thick in the head. He did alright on his O.W.L.s, and, if he and Lily were on the same team, he could usually hold his own against his older brother. Albus was perfectly average in most areas of life. He never complained when his parents asked him to do chores, he never got cross or annoyed with his little sister, and he never said a disrespectful thing in his life. His mother and sister adored him. James used to be annoyed by him, but he seemed to have finally accepted that his brother was goody two-shoe to the extreme.

His father, however, did not seem so enamored with his son, unlike the rest of the family. Harry was always supportive and nurturing for all his children, but he was more reserved with Albus than any of them. He seemed to be waiting for something to happen, knowing that sooner or later, Albus would surprise the rest of the family. Harry was the only one, then, whose eyebrows did not rise when the scandal between Albus and Scorpius appeared.

It was a month before Hogwarts resumed when the Potters decided to take the whole family out to Diagon Alley for their school shopping. After gathering books, potion supplies, new robes, and other various necessities, Harry and Ginny told their children to wander off for an hour so the adults could go buy their presents. James would be receiving a present to start his final year, Albus would get a gift for doing well on his O.W.L. exams, and Lily would get one thing or another to even everything out. They would meet at the Leaky Cauldron and go to dinner from there.

Albus left his family, heading straight for his uncle's joke shop, far enough away from the quidditch store that he was practically guaranteed a James-free hour. Lily, he knew, would be headed to Eeylop's and then Flourish & Blotts, and so he did not plan on running into her, either. Just as he was passing Gringott's, a flash of yellow and black zoomed by him, nearly knocking him to the ground. He looked up just in time to see Scorpius Malfoy running down the corner that Albus knew led to Knockturn Alley, laughing as if he had no care in the world. After sharing a common room with Malfoy for five years, Albus knew that this was probably an accurate description. More than likely, Scorpius had no care in the world.

Albus bit his lip. He knew from stories his father told him that Knockturn used to be a much more dangerous place than it is now. The dodgy alley was supposedly filled now with promiscuous women, gambling and narcotics galore. Scorpius was a good student at Hogwarts. In fact, he and Rose had been neck-and-neck for top of the class ever since the first round of exams. But he was edgy. He frequently smuggled cigarettes, alcohol, and girls into the dorms, and it was an odd week when he did not land himself in detention twice a week. Albus realized that, after living with the boy for five school years, those were the only two things he knew about Malfoy: he was a good kid, but he was a bad kid.

Albus was a good kid. He had never done anything bad in his life. He always shut his curtains when Malfoy smoked. He cast silencing charms around his bed when there were girls over. He had never once tasted a drop of firewhisky. In fact, he never had any desire to do anything bad.

Why he took off after the blonde, he never knew. He thought, after turning back for a last glance, he saw his father frowning after him, but that didn't matter. Maybe just one bad thing. His parents could forgive one bad thing.

He caught up with Scorpius in front of a haphazardly-placed gambling stand. Scorpius glared at the shabby wizard dealer, concentrating on the next move of the game. Albus stood there, not even watching the game. He paid no attention to the scantily-clad women passing by, lingering too long too close to his body. He was too busy focusing on the cigarette Scorpius held between his lips so loosely the stick was almost falling out of his mouth. Every once in a while his tongue would flick out, wetting his lips. The smoke clouded around Malfoy's face and Albus didn't notice he was leaning in toward the other boy until his eyes started watering.

"I was wondering when I'd get to you, Potter," Scorpius barked, drawing a large pile of gold and silver coins toward him and sliding them in a pouch.

"Wh-What?" Albus coughed, embarrassed by being caught staring at the other boy.

Scorpius rolled his eyes and hooked his arm with Albus's. "I've been waiting for you to catch up."

"You've been waiting for me to catch up to what?" Albus allowed Scorpius to pull him along.

Scorpius groaned and pushed Albus against the wall, pressing their bodies together. "Not what. Who." Albus still looked confused. "Me." Scorpius grinned, turned his head, and spit out his cigarette. He leaned in and sealed their lips.

It took a very long five seconds for Albus to push, hard, against the chest that was forced against his. "What the fuck Malfoy?!" he spat hysterically, his eyes wide with fear and shock.

"What's your problem?"

Albus glared up at the blonde. Merlin, he was tall. "You can't just do that! You- you—"

"I kissed you."

"Yes!"

"And you liked it!

"Ye – What?"  
Scorpius smiled and leaned down and kissed the boy again. He whispered in his ear. "You liked it. Did you not?"

Albus swallowed audibly and looked away. "I'm not queer."

The blonde's grin grew wider. "Sure you are. You're as queer as I am."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "You've slept with at least ten different girls in the past year," he accused, and he was more than a little frustrated when his voice broke.

Scorpius took a phial filled with a green lumpy liquid and shook it in front of Albus's face. "They were all blokes. Polyjuice. It adds all kinds of thrills."

Albus was disgusted. "Polyjuice. That's … that's rape, Scorpius!"

"Fuck off, Potter. I've never raped anyone before."

"Like hell you haven't! What about the girls whose bodies you been having your fucks imitate? You just don't look when they're naked women, only when they've got their dicks back?"

"You've got a mouth, don't you?"

"Piss off, Malfoy. You don't know anything about me." Albus shoved himself free and turned to walk away.

Malfoy slipped an arm around the retreating boy's waist from behind. He put his mouth next to Albus's ear. "I know every fucking thing about you, Potter," he cursed. Albus could feel the saliva spat against his neck as the assault continued. Scorpius brought his other hand up across Albus's chest and cupped his face in his hand, holding Albus firmly against him. "I know you like to think of yourself as a good little boy. I know you won't eat your peas if they touch your potatoes and you wank off to the sound of me having a good time at night."

"Yeah, I get it. You know every insignificant detail of my life."

Scorpius half laughed, half groaned in his throat. "Not all insignificant. I know you're lost."

Albus froze. If he wasn't struggling before, he was completely still now. His mind raced as he tried to think of a reply. He drew a blank.

"Hit a nerve, did I? Well, you can keep this in mind, Ally. If you want to find yourself, I'll be willing to help."

"Scorpius," Albus pleaded, still locked in an air-tight embrace, "look at where we are right now. We're in Knockturn fucking Alley. You're all but assaulting me, and, and-"

"And you love it."

"No, Malfoy! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"

Malfoy froze for an instant and then pushed Albus away forcefully. "Ashamed?" he asked sharply. "Ashamed?! No, Potter, I'm not _ashamed_ of myself, or my place in life." He gestured around the two of them. "I'm not afraid of a little dark alley, Ally. You shouldn't be either." His voice, pointed and accusing, softened toward the end.

"Don't call me that," Albus whispered, staring at the ground. "You shouldn't be here. It's dangerous. You shouldn't _want_ to be here."

Scorpius scoffed. "It's not dangerous, Ally. I've walked these streets. All the cheap thrill seekers," he motioned to the junkies in the corner, "the vendors, the dealers, they crowd around me. It's not that I want to be here, it's that they want to be around me. And I like it. I like the atmosphere."

"But you're so _smart_!" Albus pleaded.

Scorpius's eyes hardened. "So? Yeah, I'm smart. And you know what? I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want with that brain of mine." He grabbed Albus again and pulled him into his arms. He was met with less resistance.

"You're wasting your life," he tried, his voice failing. Scorpius pressed his head against Albus's and the shorter boy could feel Malfoy shake his head.

"Would you like me to prove how I'm not?" he whispered, not kindly.

"No."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to change," he muttered in Scorpius's jacket. He inhaled and the smell sent chills down his spine, through his gut, and directly to his groin.

Scorpius sighed. "You want me to change… why?" Albus didn't answer. He didn't want to acknowledge whatever his cock had to say. He tried to distance his hips from the contact between them. "Ah," Scorpius whispered, "you want me to change so you feel better about wanting me." Albus inhaled deeply and nodded quickly, only once. "It doesn't work like that, Ally. You can take me, with the good and the bad, or you can go on living your bland little life. Win or lose." Albus snorted. "But what do you consider the win? And what do you consider the loss, hmmm?"

"It shouldn't work like that. You— you want what?" Scorpius grinned and pressed their hips together. Albus's eyes rolled in the back of his head. "Fine. We have a similar interest, but conflicting opinions. We should both… work to agree. You know, like a compromise? That's how life works. That's how we work things out. That's the way we're wired," he gulped. "It's the way we're _wired_. It, I mean, it sucks, but it's just a fact of nature."

Scorpius shook his head slowing, smiling and tut-tutting. "It's also tragic, Ally, because there is no compromise. Take me or leave me." Scorpius let go and began walking away.

Albus watched him strut away for ten, eleven, twelve paces, until he sprinted to catch up. It took all his strength to force Scorpius to turn around. Standing on his tip toes he reached up and pulled the blonde's face down to lock their lips together. It was not a tender kiss. There was an intense amount of clashing teeth, stray spit, and off-tasting tongues. When they pulled apart, Albus's eyes shone fiercely with triumph. "I'll leave it," he gritted between his teeth. He knew Malfoy would respond. That was fine; Albus didn't need the last word.

"You'll come back, Ally," Scorpius called over his shoulder as he walked back toward the gamblers.

Albus turned around, walked with his face down for thirteen, fourteen, fifteen paces, and it shouldn't have surprised him when he ran into a man on the street. "Excuse me," he muttered, not looking up.

"Oh, I think that's a good place to begin," his father replied, gripping his son's shoulder tightly, guiding him back toward Diagon Alley.

"I wasn't under the impression that you and the Malfoy boy were friends."

Albus's teeth grinded together. "We're not."

Harry smiled. "That's too bad. He's a good kid." Albus snorted. Malfoy knew Albus would come back, and Albus knew he was right. Albus also knew that there was a good chance his father knew. He looked at the ground again. "Don't hang your head for things you don't think you should be ashamed of. If you're going to follow him, do it right." The grip on Albus's shoulder tightened and they walked off to meet the rest of the family.


End file.
